A practical test, more commonly known as a checkride, is the Federal Aviation Administration examination which one must undergo in the United States to receive an aircraft pilot's certification, or a rating for additional flight privileges.
Although "checkride" is the most commonly used term, it is considered informal and is technically known as a Practical Test by the FAA and in all its literature, and the specific objectives which the candidate must meet are called the Airman Certification Standards, or ACS.
In addition to successfully completing a checkride, one must also complete an oral examination (which happens before, and often, to some extent, during the checkride) and meet certain basic aeronautical experience requirements (such as number of hours flown) as well as pass a separate multiple-choice computer-administered test that is quite consistently called the "written test."
While the Airman Certification Standards outline very specific tolerances that a prospect must adhere to, the examiner has a certain amount of subjective control over whether the student passes or fails.
If the checkride has to be stopped due to any reason besides student pilot failure, such as weather setting in, the examiner will issue a letter of discontinuance, which will state the maneuvers that have been completed so that the retake checkride can be limited to the maneuvers that have not yet been completed.